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Sunday, December 20, 2015

This brightly coloured bag by
Corinne Bradd is just the thing
for packing up all your must-
haves for the festive holiday. Easy
to stitch and with a drawstring to
close, it will look stylish and
come in handy. It could even
double up as a sack filled with
presents under the tree!

Essentials

Striped fabric, 120cm

2oz quilt wadding, 50cm

6mm wide cord, 200cm

4cm wide webbing, 100cm (optional)

Dimensions

40cm x 41cm

Stitch a Bag

Cut a 85cm square from striped fabric and crease in half across the stripes. Trim a 42cm x 85cm piece of wadding and lay on one half of the wrong side of the fabric so one edge lies along the crease. Cut a 90cm length of cord and place along the crease.

Fold the other half of the fabric over the crease line, to cover the cord and wadding. Pin the layers together under the ridge made by the cord before pinning the layers together at regular intervals.

Use a zipper foot to sew directly along the side of the cord to make a piped top edge. Quilt the rest of the fabric along the stripes every 5cm to 7cm to hold the layers together and provide structure. Trim the edges of the fabric square if necessary and zig zag stitch along them.

Cut eight 5cm x 8cm rectangles from striped fabric. Fold each one in half lengthways, right sides together, and sew along the long edge to make a tube. Turn each one out and press so the seam sits in the centre. Fold in 5mm on each raw edge and topstitch 2mm from the fold.

Pin the flattened tubes to the bag, 3cm down from the piped top edge in a landscape position, at regular intervals, leaving a 1cm back seam allowance at either end of the quilted fabric. Topstitch them to the bag, on the long edge of each, to make cord channels.

Fold the quilted fabric in half widthways, right sides together, and sew up the back seam with a 1cm seam allowance. Trim the ends of the piping and cover with a short length of bias binding or scrap of fabric slip stitched over the raw ends.

Cut two 23cm squares from striped fabric for the bottom. Lay one piece face down followed by a piece of wadding the same size, with the second fabric square on top, right side up. Pin them together and zig zag stitch around all four edges.

Find the centre of two opposite sides of the square and mark them with a pin. Match one mark to the back seam of the bag and sew the edge of the square to the bottom, stopping 1cm from either end. Find the centre of the front and stitch the opposite side of the square to this in the same way. The two remaining sides of the square can now be sewn to the rest of the quilted panel.

Cut a 10cm x 100cm strip of striped print. Fold in 1cm on the short edges and tack. Fold in 1cm on each long edge and crease. Bring the long folded edges together and pin to make a 4cm wide strap. Iron fusible webbing inside the folded fabric to strengthen it, if required. Topstitch along both long sides, 2mm from the edge.

Pin to either side of the bag, 4cm below the cord channels. Topstitch the bottom 4cm square of strap end to the bag, closing up the tacked ends as you go and reinforcing with a cross shape in the centre. Remove the tacking stitches.

Create two small tabs from 5cm x 10cm rectangles, folded in half, right sides together and stitched down each side. Turn them out, fold in 5mm along the top edge and slip the ends of the remaining cord into each one. Topstitch them closed over the cord. Thread the cord through the channels at the top to finish.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

You’re sure to look the picture
of domesticity in the kitchen
this Christmas with this fancy
apron made by Stuart Hillard. It’s
stitched in a cheerful floral repeat
designed by Kaffe Fassett, and
features lovely pleated details and
a useful front pocket. The contrast
waistband is long enough to tie
in a bow at the front to ensure it
doesn’t slip off during crucial oven
to table manoeuvring!

make an apron

1 Fold 50cm x width of printed cotton in half, selvedge to selvedge, and press lightly. Tie
a length of string to a pencil, then pin at the top of the folded fabric, with the fold on the left. Position the pencil at the bottom fold and mark a quarter circle. Cut on the line and open out to make a semi-circle. Do the same with light pink lining fabric.

2Create a pocket in the same way as for the apron, using 20cm x 40cm each of floral print fabric and grey cotton for the lining. From

grey cotton, also cut three 10cm x width of fabric strips. Join two of them together for the apron frill and set aside.

3 Make the pocket frill by folding the remaining strip in half, wrong sides together, and press. With the right side of the pocket in front of you and starting at one edge, create 5cm pleats in the strip and pin

to the lower curved pocket edge, right sides facing. Trim of any excess length and tack the frill in place. Pin the outer pocket and lining right sides together, with the frill inside. Sew the curved lower edge using a 9mm seam allowance. Turn out and press.

4Cut a 5cm strip of bright pink cotton and use it to bind the pocket top. Sew with right sides facing to the lining side, then turn the

strip to the front and topstitch neatly in place, tucking the raw edges in at each end. Pin the pocket to the apron front, 8cm down from the top raw edge. Stitch in place by sewing 5mm either side of the frill and the pocket.

5Fold the longer frill strip in half, wrong sides together, and press. Create pleats as before, 8cm apart. Pin, then tack to the

lower curved edge of the apron, right sides facing. Pin the apron front and lining right sides together with the frill inside. Sew the curved edge of the apron using a 9mm seam allowance. Leave the straight top edge open. Turn out and press. Topstitch the seam 9mm from the curved edge.

6 To make the waist tie, cut three 16cm x width of fabric strips from bright pink cotton. Join them together to make one

continuous piece. Press the seam allowances open. Fold the strip in half lengthways, right sides together, and sew down the long edge. Turn the strip out and centre the seam along the back. Press.

7Turn the short raw edges of the strip in and press. Fold over the top raw edge of the apron by 2cm and press. Tack in place. Centre the waist tie onto the apron top edge, wrong side to right side. Make sure that the tacked top edge of the apron is 5mm down from the top of the waist tie. Pin then sew the waist band in place along the top edge. Remove the tacking, then topstitch all the way around the waist tie.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Made from a length of fashionable checked wool, minimal stitching is needed to make Cheryl Owen’s shawl wrap. With a hint of vintage, it’s just the thing to take a roll neck and skirt to whole new levels. Pair with leather driving gloves for old-school glamour at its best!

Essentials

Wool fabric, 2m

Medium weight fusible interfacing, 20cm x 25cm

Dimensions

70cm x 195cm

stitch a shawl

Cut a 10cm wide strip from one short edge of tweed fabric to leave a 75cm x 2m rectangle for the shawl. Set the strip aside. To hem, press under 1cm then 1.5cm on the short edges and stitch. Repeat on the long sides.

Cut two 8cm x 20cm rectangles fromthe fabric set aside and medium weight interfacing. Press the interfacing to the reverse. Pin and stitch the pieces together around the outer edges, right sides facing, using a 1cm seam allowance and leaving a gap. Turn out and press. Slipstitch the gap closed.

Slip the shawl over your shoulders with the short edges level, right side facing out. Fold back the inner long edge at the centre back 8cm to form a collar, pin in place. Remove the wrap and secure with a few stitches.

Referring to the diagram, pin the strap to the left-hand end of the shawl. Stitch in place close to the short edges then again, 6mm in. To wear, slip the right-hand end of the shawl through the strap, folding the fabric to lay in pleats.

Hello Visitors, I am
writing this post to clarify the scheduled Paris fashion week's date.The most
awaited Paris fashion weeks dates are not announced officially. Paris is not
easy than other “Big 4” to pin it down.

However the fashion
experts guessing, the Paris fashion week dates will roll over in the end of
February 2016 after Milan, probably because Paris missed the opportunity long
ago. The event will continue till March 2016.

Then it will begin in
late September and it will continue till October for Spring-summer collection).

Paris is the topmost,
brightest and rich of all the fashion weeks, which organized by the French
Federation of Fashion. So let the blissful fashion begin!

We apologize that we
can’t you with a date you are for. However I will keep posted on the same once
the date announced.